A few words with ...

A: I got the call, then I sat down with (executive producers) David Shore and Katie Jacobs, and they started to talk to me about this new character they were developing. I loved the idea, and I know that she's very strong, enthusiastic and eager.

She's a prison doctor, and that's where she meets House in the first new episode. They share a connection and end up helping each other, and I think she realizes she's much more like House than she thinks.

A: It's dreamy. He is really wonderful. I was nervous coming in, of course, because everyone there has been working together for seven seasons now. It's a very well-oiled machine, much like a family, and I'm coming in as this new person.

Being able to work with Hugh first, I was able to get all those nerves out of the way but I shouldn't have been nervous. He's so funny and charming and such a generous and great actor.

Q: Your Fox comedy "Breaking In" has been picked up for a midseason return. How will that work for you, given your "House" schedule?

A: They've carved out some episodes for me to be able to do "Breaking In." I really enjoy it, and I just feel very lucky to go from a comedy to this medical drama. It's going to be a good ride.

A: I had never done television, and it's happened to be a six-year ride at this point, which I never expected. I think I'm the one person who never expected a network to put on a show about a serial killer, but I realized that if you're going to play something that has the potential for an extended period of time, it has to be interesting, and there has to be growth.

I feel the writers have been really generous in giving Debra (Carpenter's character) a complicated, exciting, sometimes funny and tragic arc. She is a witness to all of her mistakes, and she makes adjustments. Even though they may not be the most useful ones, she's evolving constantly, so there's a way to play some notes light and some heavier. It keeps it all very interesting.

Q: Is it still tricky to play Debra as not suspecting that Dexter, her half brother, is a killer?

A: Well, she doesn't have much to protect, but she protects it with everything she has. I mean, her family is small, and her life is small outside of work. Dexter is her only connection to her past, and sometimes you make exceptions for the most dangerous people and look the other way.

The audience has had access to Dexter's voice-over, but Debra hasn't, so it's not that preposterous that she would be in the dark. That doesn't mean she doesn't sense something off from him -- or unique, even.